Görlitz, first mentioned in 1071, developed as a key trading town on theVia Regia route linking Western and Eastern Europe. In theLate Middle Ages, it prospered through the cloth trade and became a member of theLusatian League, enjoying considerable autonomy. The town came underBohemian,Hungarian,Austrian andSaxon rule before becoming part ofPrussia in 1815 after theCongress of Vienna. During World War II, Görlitz was spared major destruction, but the newOder–Neisse line in 1945 divided it from its eastern districts, which became Zgorzelec in Poland. In theGDR era, Görlitz was a border town with limited cross-border contact, but afterGerman reunification andPoland’s EU accession, cooperation with Zgorzelec increased. Today, Görlitz is renowned for its well-preserved historic architecture and frequent use as a film location.[5]
Görlitz is culturally diverse. Immediately to the west of Görlitz lieSorbian-speaking parts of Lusatia, and Görlitz was founded and first settled by the Sorbs, aSlavic people. This is evidenced by the name of the town and the etymology of some of its surrounding villages and geographical features being ofSlavic origin. Görlitz itself speaks the East Lusatian dialect of German (Ostlausitzer Mundart [de]), which is related toSilesian German dialects and differs from theUpper Saxon dialects spoken in most parts of Saxony. It is home to theSchlesisches Himmelreich [de] andLiegnitzer Bombe [de], aSilesian Museum (Schlesisches Museum zu Görlitz), and the Silesian Christmas Market (Schlesischer Christkindelmarkt [de]).
As of 2025, structural change, internationalisation, and transformation are central themes in the city’s development.[6] At the same time, Görlitz is increasingly developing into a science centre of supra-regional and international importance. In addition to theZittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences (known asLusatia), which focuses on social change processes in both the technical and natural sciences as well as the social sciences, theTechnical University of Dresden (University of Excellence), theUniversity of Leipzig andHHL are also active in Görlitz with branch offices, study programmes or research institutes. The city is also home to several Frauenhofer Institutes, research groups and labs, theSenkenberg Institute of Natural History, the CASUS Center of Advanced Systems Understanding,[7] which belongs to theHelmholtz Association, the Interdisciplinary Centre for Ecological and Revitalising Urban Transformation (IZS),[8] which is part of theLeibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development, and the German Centre for Astrophysics (DZA). The investment volume for the DZA alone amounts to 1.25 billion euros.[9] Görlitz is also home to the Oberlausitzische Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften (Upper Lusatian Society of Science), which was founded in 1779 and is one of the oldest German scientific societies. The influx from abroad, which has led to an international population share of almost 17%,[10] is now having a positive effect on population development.
Landeskrone (Sedło), a hill that was the site of the main stronghold of the Slavic Bieżuńczanie tribe in the Early Middle Ages
Slavs migrated into the area during theEarly Middle Ages. The nearby Landeskrone (Upper Sorbian:Sedło) mountain, asBusinc, is considered the mainstronghold of the Bieżuńczanie tribe[11] andGorelic is said to mean a small village. Other references state the origin of the name Görlitz is the Slavic word for 'burned land',[12] referring to the technique used to clear land for settlement. PolishZgorzelec and CzechZhořelec have the same derivation.
In the Early Middle Ages, the area was inhabited by the Bieżuńczanie tribe,[11] one of the oldPolish tribes.[13] In the late 9th or 10th century, the Bieżuńczanie were subjugated by theSorbianMilceni tribe, who bordered from the west,[14] who in turn were subjugated in 990 by theMargraviate of Meissen, afrontier march of theHoly Roman Empire. The area was then conquered by Polish rulerBolesław I the Brave in 1002 and formed part of Poland until 1031, after which the region fell back to the Margraviate of Meissen.
Görlitz, asGoreliz, was first mentioned in a document from the King ofGermany, and laterHoly Roman Emperor,Henry IV in 1071. This document granted Görlitz to the religiousDiocese of Meissen, then under Bishop Benno ofMeissen. This document can now be found in the Saxony State Archives inDresden.[15] In 1075 the village was assigned to theDuchy of Bohemia. In 1126–1131 Bohemian DukeSoběslav I erected a castle, one of several new castles on the Bohemian-Polish border. It may have been on the site of the present St Peter and Paul church.[citation needed] The date the town was founded is unknown but in the 13th century the village gradually became a town. Owing to its location on theVia Regia, an ancient and medieval trade route, the settlement prospered. In 1319 it became part of thePiast-ruledDuchy of Jawor,[16][17] and DukeHenry I of Jawor confirmed the town'sprivileges.[18] In 1329, the town fell back toBohemia.
TheProtestant Reformation came to Görlitz in the early 1520s and by the last half of the 16th century, it and the surrounding vicinity, became almost completely Lutheran.
In 1623, during theThirty Years' War, the town was captured and occupied alternately bySweden and theHoly Roman Empire.[21] In 1635, the region of Upper Lusatia (including Görlitz) was ceded to theElectorate of Saxony. From 1639, the town was occupied by Sweden again, and then it was besieged by Imperial and Saxon forces in 1641.[21] After the war it was part of the Electorate of Saxony, from 1697 within thePolish–Saxon personal union. One of two main routes connectingWarsaw andDresden ran through the town in the 18th century and KingsAugustus II the Strong andAugustus III of Poland often travelled that route.[22]Napoleon visited the town several times in 1807, 1812 and 1813.
Shortly after theNazi Party's rise to power, in March 1933, theSA established the Leschwitz concentration camp in Leschwitz (present-day district of Weinhübel).[24] Political prisoners were held and tortured in the camp before it was dissolved in August 1933 and the prisoners were deported to otherconcentration camps.[24] In 1936, during a nationwide Nazi campaign of changing of placenames, two present-day districts of Görlitz were renamed to erase traces ofSlavic origin—Leschwitz toWeinhübel and Nikrisch toHagenwerder.[25][26] OnKristallnacht in November 1938 an arson attack was carried out on thecity's synagogue. However the building survived the attack without major damage because firefighters resisted the order not to extinguish the fire.[27] It is the only synagogue in the present state of Saxony that survived Nazi rule.[28] In theinterwar period most of the Jews had left the city and their number dropped from 567 in 1925 to 134 in 1939.[29] Many remaining Jews were then killed in theHolocaust duringWorld War II.[28]
Memorial to the victims of the AL Görlitzsubcamp ofGross-Rosen in Biesnitz
During World War II, a Nazi prison was operated in the town, with fourforced labour subcamps within the town limits and three in nearby villages.[30] The Nazis also established and operated twosubcamps of theGross-Rosen concentration camp, located in present-day districts of Biesnitz and Kunnerwitz, in which over 1,500Jewish men and women were used as forced labour, and 470 of whom died.[31] Numerous subcamps of theStalag VIII-Aprisoner-of-war camp were located in the town, in which over 10,000 POWs worked as forced labour in 1942, and one of the largest subcamps was located in nearby Weinhübel (district of Görlitz since 1949).[32] After the Soviet offensive of 1944 and the partial evacuation of the German court staff from theGeneral Government inGerman-occupied Poland, a special court of the General Government was established at the local courthouse.[33] Several Polish citizens were detained in Görlitz and sentenced to prison or death at this court forrescuing Jews from the Holocaust.[34]
Near the end of World War II German troops destroyed all bridges crossing theLusatian Neisse. The redrawing of boundaries in 1945—in particular the location of the East German-Polish border to the presentOder-Neisse line—divided the town. The right bank became part of Poland and was initially renamed Zgorzelice, and then Zgorzelec in 1948, with both names being historically used in the Polish language,[21][35][36][37] while the main portion on the left bank became part ofEast Germany, now within the state of Saxony.
On 12 June 1945 the city issued a set of four of its own postage stamps.[citation needed]
When theEast German states were dissolved in 1952 Görlitz became part of theDresden District, but the states were restored onGerman reunification in 1990. In 1972 the East German-Polish border was opened for visa-free travel, resulting in intense movement between Görlitz and Zgorzelec, which lasted until 1980,[citation needed] when East Germany unilaterally closed the border because of anti-communist protests and the emergence of theSolidarity movement in Poland. On 27 June 1994 the town became the seat of theRoman Catholic Diocese of Görlitz, but it remains aLutheran Protestant stronghold. In 2002Lake Berzdorf, occupying a former open-cast lignite mine south of Görlitz, began to be filled.
TheAltstadtbrücke (literallyold town bridge) between Görlitz and sister city Zgorzelec was rebuilt between 2003 and 2004. It was officially opened on 20 October 2004. As soon as Poland signed theSchengen Agreement (20 December 2007), movement between the two banks of the river again became unrestricted, since border controls were eliminated. Indeed, users of the new pedestrian bridge are not informed by any signs that they are leaving one country and entering another. Today Görlitz and Zgorzelec are well connected.[38] A bus line connects the German and Polish parts of the town and there is a common urban management, with annual joint sessions of both town councils.[citation needed]
Since reunification and as of 2013, more than 700 buildings in Görlitz have been renovated. It is a popular place for retirement among the elderly of Germany, being quiet and relatively affordable by German standards.[39] Its tourist potential is rapidly expanding since it is very much an eastern counterpart to towns such asHeidelberg.[citation needed] In the case of Görlitz much of the funding for the renovations of the town's buildings has come from an anonymous donor, who, since 1995, has sent an annual donation of more than€500,000, totalling more than €10,000,000.[40]
Görlitz has a rich architectural heritage (Gothic,Renaissance,Baroque, Neoclassical and Art Nouveau). One example of this heritage is theSchönhof, one of the oldest civic Renaissance buildings in Germany. Another medieval heritage is a model of theHoly Sepulchre (de) the construction of which began in 1465 underBürgermeister Georg Emmerich.[41]
In 2006, thetwin cities of Görlitz and Zgorzelec applied to be theEuropean City of Culture for 2010. It was hoped that the concept of Polish-German cooperation would be sufficient to convince the jury, butEssen won and Görlitz was placed second. As a result of the campaign Görlitz was renamed theCity of Culture in order to further German-Polish relations and to attract tourists from all over the world.[42]
As Görlitz was part ofSilesia from 1815 onward, it has a Silesian Museum dedicated to the region (Schlesisches Museum zu Görlitz). The exhibition features the 1000-year-old cultural history of Silesia.
Görlitz is also the birthplace of the German version ofnonpareils, popularly known in Germany asLiebesperlen (German forlove pearls). Invented by confectioner Rudolf Hoinkis (1876–1944), the name derives from a conversation Hoinkis had with his wife, proclaiming his love for her was like these 'pearls', the nonpareil. Unsure of what to call the treat he invented, his wife suggested calling them love pearls and the name stuck. The factory where he first manufactured the treat, founded in 1896, is now run by his great-grandson, Mathias.[43]
Due to the historical parts of the city, many movie-makers have used the various sites as locations.Eli Roth shot the movie-in-a-movieNation's Pride (Stolz der Nation) forQuentin Tarantino'sInglourious Basterds (which incidentally purports to be France) in theLower Market Square andUpper Market Square in the oldest parts of the city.[44][45] Other films shot in Görlitz include the 2013 war dramaThe Book Thief and the teen years inThe Reader. Görlitz was used as the primary shooting location for theWes Anderson filmThe Grand Budapest Hotel, with Görlitz standing in for a resort in the fictional Eastern European country of Zubrowka. A vacant department store in the city was redecorated to serve as the hotel itself.[46]
Görlitz is situated on the border with Poland, adjacent to the Polish town ofZgorzelec on the opposite bank of theLusatian Neisse. The municipality measures 19.4 km (12.1 mi) from north to south, and 7.3 km (4.5 mi) from east to west.[47] Its area is 67.52 km2 (26.07 sq mi).[48]
The climate isoceanic (Köppen:Cfb) or on the western edge ofhumid continental (Dfb) at the 0 °C isotherm. The location on the easternmost border of Germany, far from the sea, gives a climate less affected by prevailing westerly winds although these do reach further into the western half of Poland. Summers can be warm, though not as much as inSouthern Europe, and the winters are cold; snow is sporadic, not persisting all winter.[51]
The Görlitz weather station has recorded the following extreme values:[52]
Its highest temperature was 37.9 °C (100.2 °F) on 7 August 2015.
Its lowest temperature was −30.8 °C (−23.4 °F) on 9 February 1956.
Its greatest annual precipitation was 1,013.7 mm (39.91 in) in 1939.
Its least annual precipitation was 362.4 mm (14.27 in) in 1943.
The longest annual sunshine was 2,162.5 hours in 2011.
The shortest annual sunshine was 1,368.3 hours in 1977.
Climate data for Görlitz (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1860–present)
The first freely elected mayor after German reunification wasMatthias Lechner of theChristian Democratic Union (CDU), who served from 1990 to 1998. The mayor was originally chosen by the city council, but since 1994 has been directly elected.Rolf Karbaum served from 1998 until 2005,Joachim Paulick from 2005 to 2012, andSiegfried Deinege from 2012 to 2019; all wereindependents. In 2019, CDU politicianOctavian Ursu was elected mayor. The most recent mayoral election was held on 26 May 2019, with a runoff held on 16 June, and the results were as follows:
Being the easternmost town in the country, Görlitz has formed a 'Compass Alliance' (Zipfelbund) with the northernmost, westernmost and southernmost towns,List,Selfkant andOberstdorf respectively. They participate in the annualGerman Unity Day celebrations to represent the modern limits of Germany.[55]
^G. Kießling (1883),Blicke in die Mundart der südlichen Oberlausitz: Revidierter Abdruck aus dem 4. Jahresberichte des Königl. Seminars zu Löbau (in German), Zschopau: Raschkem
^Bogusławski, Wilhelm (1861).Rys dziejów serbo-łużyckich (in Polish). Petersburg. p. 142.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Orzechowski, Kazimierz; Przybytek, Dariusz; Ptak, Marian (2008).Dolny Śląsk. Podziały terytorialne od X do XX wieku (in Polish). Wrocław. p. 43.ISBN978-83-923255-5-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^abKöhler, Gustav (1846).Der Bund der Sechsstädte in der Ober-Lausitz: Eine Jubelschrift (in German). Görlitz: G. Heinze & Comp. p. 30.
^"Adasse (fl. 1348)." InDictionary of Women Worldwide: 25,000 Women Through the Ages, edited by Anne Commire and Deborah Klezmer, 11. Vol. 1. Detroit, MI: Yorkin Publications, 2007.Gale eBooks (accessed 20 July 2021).
^abcdMeyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon, Band 8 (in German). Leipzig. 1907. pp. 138–139.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Lusek, Joanna; Goetze, Albrecht (2011). "Stalag VIII A Görlitz. Historia – teraźniejszość – przyszłość".Łambinowicki rocznik muzealny (in Polish).34.Opole:42–43.
^Wrzyszcz, Andrzej (2008). "Z badań nad ewakuacją organów resortu sprawiedliwości Generalnego Gubernatorstwa w latach 1944–1945".Studia z dziejów państwa i prawa polskiego (in Polish).XI.Kraków: 270.
^Rejestr faktów represji na obywatelach polskich za pomoc ludności żydowskiej w okresie II wojny światowej (in Polish). Warszawa:IPN. 2014. pp. 68–69, 78, 81.
^Wojskowy Instytut Geograficzny (1925). "Görlitz (Zgorzelice)" (Map).Mapa Operacyjna Polski. 1:300,000 (in Polish).
^Wojskowy Instytut Geograficzny (1935). "Zgorzelec (Görlitz)" (Map).Mapa Operacyjna Polski. 1:300,000 (in Polish).
^Jordan, Jan Pětr (1845).Vollständiges Taschenwörterbuch der polnischen und deutschen Sprache/Dokładny słowniczek polsko-niemiecki i niemiecko-polski (in Polish and German). Leipzig. p. 706.
^"Willkommen" (in German). Verkehrsgesellschaft Görlitz GmbH. Archived fromthe original on 8 January 2019. Retrieved20 February 2015.
^"Informacje bieżące" [Current Information] (in Polish). Polnische Verkehrsgesellschaft (Polish Transport Company). Archived fromthe original on 10 March 2012. Retrieved23 June 2010.
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